An independent archive of typography.
Topics
Formats
Typefaces

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Contributed by Gary Boodhoo on Apr 13th, 2014. Artwork published in .
Game Menu
Source: bgs.bethsoft.com Bethesda Game Studios. License: All Rights Reserved.

Game Menu

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls action role-playing video game series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Skyrim was released on November 11, 2011, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The game’s typography supports and organizes player activities, goals and itemization. Futura Condensed’s Medium weight affords larger font sizes while maintaining information density onscreen.

Player Inventory screen
Source: bgs.bethsoft.com Bethesda Game Studios. License: All Rights Reserved.

Player Inventory screen

Character Skills screen
Source: bgs.bethsoft.com Bethesda Game Studios. License: All Rights Reserved.

Character Skills screen

Quest Journal screen
Source: bgs.bethsoft.com Bethesda Game Studios. License: All Rights Reserved.

Quest Journal screen

Character Creation screen
Source: bgs.bethsoft.com Bethesda Game Studios. License: All Rights Reserved.

Character Creation screen

Typefaces

  • Futura Condensed

Formats

Topics

In Sets

15 Comments on “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

  1. David A Carlson says:
    Nov 8th, 2018 5:45 pm

    What I want to know is what typeface is used in-game for the “handwritten font,” “skyrim books font.”

  2. Hi David, can you point us to an image?

  3. Aharon McNally says:
    Jul 12th, 2019 4:54 am

    I would like to know what the font of the book Olaf and the dragon is.

    (Please get back to me ASAP)

  4. Hi Aharon, do you have (a link to) an image?

  5. hmm... says:
    Jul 21st, 2019 3:59 pm

    sooooo

    what font is used in this image?

    thanks

  6. Hi djbro,

    All typography shown in this post uses Futura Condensed, and most of it uses its Medium weight.

  7. Are the numbers shown on the Character Skill screen Futura also?

  8. Gabriel says:
    Jan 24th, 2020 3:25 pm

    Salve, vorrei sapere quale è il font utilizzato nel logo del gioco, solo la scritta “Skyrim”.

    [translated] Hi, I would like to know which font is used for the game logo, just the word “Skyrim”.

  9. Hello Gabriel, I assume you are talking about this logo, yes? I’m afraid it’s custom, and not a readily available font. If the letterforms are based on a font, they were probably heavily modified.

  10. There are various books in game for players to read. Are those also Futura don’t?

  11. I don’t know. Do you have an image?

  12. Mads Viande says:
    Aug 22nd, 2022 8:56 pm

    Here’s an image of a book page:

    This is a screenshot of the in-game book A Dream of Sovngarde, which begins with a fancy illustrated initial and reads: In a few hours, I will likely be dead.  My men and I, Nords of Skyrim all, will soon join the Emperor's legions to attack the Imperial City. The Aldmeri are entrenched within and our losses will be severe. It is a desperate gambit, for if we do not reclaim the city, we will lose the war.

  13. Mads Viande says:
    Aug 22nd, 2022 9:01 pm

    Per the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, A Dream of Sovngarde appears to use a font internally called SkyrimBooks_Gaelic and perhaps also called Cyrodiil. Other books use a font internally called SkyrimBooks_Handwritten_Bold which appears to be an alias of ITC Viner Hand.

  14. Thanks, Mads!

    My understanding is that Cyrodiil is a freebie made by Neale Davidson of Pixel Sagas in 2014 (and updated in 2015). According to the author, it is “based on the main text used within Bethesda Softwork’s later Elder Scrolls games”. The font used in the game from 2011 must hence be something else. The underlying design goes back to Rundgotisch, a typeface designed at Schelter & Giesecke around 1902. Tom Wallace did a digital revival in 2005. Maybe that was the basis for SkyrimBooks_Gaelic.

  15. Ben Sølv says:
    May 17th, 2023 2:50 pm

    Mads, you’re an absolute legend, thank you so much!

Post a comment